2022 WRC News & Rumours

[AnttiL]

I can't really see Mikkelsen doing better than Breen, even when given a full season. Both are good in lower categories, but on top category they cannot fight for the wins consistently.

[Sergiow]

Looking through the 2022 WRC Factbook. Slightly interesting that Great Britain and Italy have dropped out of the top 10 media markets whilst Croatia and Greece join. This doesn't include WRC+ but does the live stream on eg. BT Sport. Highest audience was Japan - 74m viewers in 2021.

The top 10 WRC+ markets from 2021 are now listed as 'some of the top markets', list remains the same: USA, GB, France, Finland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Estonia. No Japan, yet Japanese commentary.

I find all this a quite interesting post and I wonder how mucht the paywall (for example WRC 2022 in Italy can be watched in full on Sky.it) is affecting the audience numbers.

When researching the net for more info, I came across this academic paper regarding WRC+ All Live (!):
"The sport now guaranteed its position in every market across the world and its direct relationship with the fans. However, the culture and history of the sport played an important role in what actions the WRC Promoter GmbH could undertake. It was not a case of having a new owner, and therefore they could impose their own culture on the sport. To ensure fan enjoyment, the historical element of the event, the media product and the way the sport was run needed to be maintained. As the streaming market continues to develop, more niche sports seek to control their own media futures, and as promotion rights to sports are being bought and sold, the outcomes from the WRC+ All Live product can contain important lessons for other sports, and researchers into the future."
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8760297

Regarding the 2022 WRC Factbook, can't get hold of that today:
Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://www.wrc.com/en/footer/media/factbook/"

[lmmjvss]

I can't really see Mikkelsen doing better than Breen, even when given a full season. Both are good in lower categories, but on top category they cannot fight for the wins consistently.

Yes! :/
Its weird cuz Tanak, Tierry, Elfyn (meeehh) and Kalle are the only guys I see as Rally1 top drivers. The rest are still good, but they look like R5 drivers. Even Lappi and Breen, for example, and they are my 2 favorites! Oliver Solberg also IMO doesnt look like a potential top driver in rally1. We need to see who from R5s are capable of racing in Rally1. I mean, its not like Msport cant do better.. its not like Toyota in UNBEATABLE, right? Imagine giving more opportunities to the R5s guys... I dont see Mikkelsen being a constant front runner in rally1 but I'd try it anyway. Maybe a surprise? That'd be awesome. Then Kajto, then Lukyanuk, Kopesky etc.. who knows who can be great in rally1

[WRCStan]

I find all this a quite interesting post and I wonder how mucht the paywall (for example WRC 2022 in Italy can be watched in full on Sky.it) is affecting the audience numbers.

When researching the net for more info, I came across this academic paper regarding WRC+ All Live (!):
"The sport now guaranteed its position in every market across the world and its direct relationship with the fans. However, the culture and history of the sport played an important role in what actions the WRC Promoter GmbH could undertake. It was not a case of having a new owner, and therefore they could impose their own culture on the sport. To ensure fan enjoyment, the historical element of the event, the media product and the way the sport was run needed to be maintained. As the streaming market continues to develop, more niche sports seek to control their own media futures, and as promotion rights to sports are being bought and sold, the outcomes from the WRC+ All Live product can contain important lessons for other sports, and researchers into the future."
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8760297

Regarding the 2022 WRC Factbook, can't get hold of that today:
Access Denied You don't have permission to access "http://www.wrc.com/en/footer/media/factbook/"

There's more to it, but struck me that a combined population of ~130million is getting fewer viewers than a combined population of less than 15million. Winds of change, choice in languages and all that..

Factbook works for me. ?

Sam has done a few papers around the WRC. (I wonder if he visits this forum? Is active on Twitter and was doing MRF media last I was there. (I saw a study on fan forums too - can't remember who by)). I'm really keen to read this of his from last year: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full...7.2021.1972432 There's a book by his colleague Hans Erik Naess called The Sociology of the WRC, looks interesting too. In all cases though I'm not likely to pay £100s out of curiosity if all that appeals to me is the conclusion. Working on getting access through the Wikimedia library at the mo.

[mknight]

I can't really see Mikkelsen doing better than Breen, even when given a full season. Both are good in lower categories, but on top category they cannot fight for the wins consistently.

Mikkelsen should be doing about the same as Breen in his last years form. But Breen hasn't been on that level at all this year, except on Sardinia. Will he get back or is this his normal form as in Citroen and his Hyundai form was special?

Right now this year only Rovanpera and Tanak have consistently fought for wins, not even Evans and Neuville did, so this kind of metric is tricky.


Anyway Mikkelsen strength right now is his consistency and lack of crashes while likely being somewhere between 2-5 depending on rally. MSport was hoping for at least that or more from Breen, and it only got worse.

But sure it would be strange to replace Breen before he has done even one year of contract. What could happen is that Mikkelsen would be there to support Breen. Millener said just that before Finland, but then there's the money issue...

I know it's a repost in the article but I find that Millener comment about next 5-10 years funny. Where can MSport end in 5-10 years if they never perform? If one of their youngsters do perform they will leave them after 1-2 years anyway.

[flat_right]

I can't really see Mikkelsen doing better than Breen, even when given a full season. Both are good in lower categories, but on top category they cannot fight for the wins consistently.

I would have to disagree. Breen might have more raw speed (which is useful in Finland and Estonia) but overall I think they would match each other. And then in the end Mikkelsen's consistency would give him better points. I like Breen more as a driver and a person but I was just thinking if M-Sport could think the same way.

[skarderud]

He seems pretty much unliked for whatever reasons. Maybe too arrogant personality at times? Dont know.

Hard too say, but if thats a "thing", why is neuville in a seat?
He has much worse things said in public than Mikkelsen has, i can't remember any particular thing he has said negative ( at same level).

I wonder if the problem for the teams was his x-manager, Mikkelsen left EVEN to control his own carriere, but that shouldn't be a problem now?

And if its down to money, why won't Redbull put in some?
What is the numbers for a season in M-sport these days?

Abow €2.000.000?

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[Jarek Z]

We need to see who from R5s are capable of racing in Rally1. I mean, its not like Msport cant do better.. its not like Toyota in UNBEATABLE, right? Imagine giving more opportunities to the R5s guys... I dont see Mikkelsen being a constant front runner in rally1 but I'd try it anyway. Maybe a surprise? That'd be awesome. Then Kajto, then Lukyanuk, Kopesky etc.. who knows who can be great in rally1

Unfortunately it's only a beautiful dream. Kajto, Lukyanuk and Kopecky are all around 40 years old and manufacturers are not interested in such "old" drivers. But based on their results in ERC I don't think they would be much slower than Loubet or Greensmith.

[lmmjvss]

Does any of these studies/papers have the NUMBER of WRC+ users? I have no idea how many people pay and watch. Honestly. Idk if its 6k or a million haha

[manthey]

Yes! :/
Its weird cuz Tanak, Tierry, Elfyn (meeehh) and Kalle are the only guys I see as Rally1 top drivers. The rest are still good, but they look like R5 drivers. Even Lappi and Breen, for example, and they are my 2 favorites! Oliver Solberg also IMO doesnt look like a potential top driver in rally1. We need to see who from R5s are capable of racing in Rally1. I mean, its not like Msport cant do better.. its not like Toyota in UNBEATABLE, right? Imagine giving more opportunities to the R5s guys... I dont see Mikkelsen being a constant front runner in rally1 but I'd try it anyway. Maybe a surprise? That'd be awesome. Then Kajto, then Lukyanuk, Kopesky etc.. who knows who can be great in rally1

3 on 4 already in M-Sport
Personally I don't consider Elfyn a top driver

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